The Bare Necessities
by Smapdi
Summary: Set post-DCIMPT. Things have been awkward in the office...
1. Chapter 1

"You two knock it off! You need to stop arguing over the damn L-shaped desk! I mean it!l

WHAM! The slamming door rattled the office.

"Whoa." "Dang!" "Hurricane Mindy just swept through!" The office was suddenly abuzz. Danny stepped out of his office to see what all the commotion was about.

"Sorry, Dr. C." Morgan explained that he and Tamra had been innocently rochambeau-ing for the possession of the bigger desk, but Tamra kept insisting rock beat paper because _hello_, it's paper, the rock can just tear it.

"OK, enough, Morgan. Just take turns with the desk." He turned to Betsy. "What's Mindy's deal?"

"I hate to talk bad about my BFF," Betsy said tentatively. "But she's been in a terrible mood all week. She told Beverly If she wasn't happy here she could go back to sleeping in her car! That's just mean!" She whispered the last sentence.

"Mean? She's being a straight up bitch!" Tamra interjected.

"You guys, give her a break. She and her dream man broke up, she's gonna be a little touchy."

Danny froze when he heard Morgan's words. Settle down, Castellano, he told himself. She broke up with Cliff, big deal. But maybe she needed a friend... Because that's what they were.

Friends.

Weird, uncomfortable friends. The past few weeks had been awkward for both of them. It wasn't the accidental nudity that had caused it - in his line of work, Danny had long since learned to compartmentalize the female body. And Mindy had seen him unclothed before as well, thanks to that disastrous art show.

But then, they saw each other naked, emotionally. That did the trick. Danny had never seen Mindy as vulnerable as she had been that day in his office, when she thought he was going to be critical of her body. He in turn had revealed some personal things, inadvertently, and though he quickly assured her his opinions were based on being her trainer... he didn't think she bought it. He tried to lighten the mood by bringing up her over groomed chassis, but Mindy just turned that all back on him and made it more embarrassing.

So awkwardness had been the general theme, and Danny just reverted to avoidance. He missed her, as crazy it seemed. Work was too quiet, and his free time was bland. He got a lot of reading done, rewatched everything from Ken Burns, and got more proficient at his piano playing. Alone. It was slowly killing him, especially when he thought of Mindy and Cliff being a couple, doing couple things. Not that he wanted to be part of a couple. No, he just missed his friend.

Danny knocked on her office door and entered when he received a growl in response.

"Hey, you OK? I heard some yelling."

"I'm fine, Danny. Just busy, and I don't need interruptions." Mindy had a dozen magazine scattered across her desk, along with a giant coffee and what was left of a chocolate cake.

"Yeah, you look super busy." He plopped himself down on the chair across from her and reached for the cake, shoveling a forkful into his mouth. She ignored him and fiddled with a file. "But can we refrain from reprimanding the staff in public? We don't need patients overhearing it."

Mindy pouted. "Fine. Sorry." She still refused to look up at him. Danny waited to see if she would thaw and talk to him, but she sat there in stony silence.

"OK then." He rose to leave.

"Not like you don't do it all the time." Mindy muttered quietly.

"What was that?" Danny turned back.

"Nothing!" Mindy huffed, glancing up at him quickly, then tossing her file.

"Min." Danny's voice was soft, but the discomfort in it came through clearly. "Do you need to talk or something?"

He felt like reaching out and hugging her, comforting her, but he wasn't one of her chatty girlfriends. They weren't going to drink mimosas and complain about boys together. If he held her in his arms, just to comfort her of course, she might think he had ulterior motives. Which he didn't. At all.

Well, maybe a little.

Mindy didn't even look up. "Nope."

"How 'bout we hit the gym? Your leg's all better..." That earned a response, but it was more of a look of horror.

"C'mon, Min. You can just spend some time hitting the heavy bag. Get out your pent up anger. Hey, you just need to imagine my face on it!"

Mindy snorted at that. "It's not your face I'd be picturing, Danny. But thanks for the idea." She sat back and to his surprise seemed to be considering it. "OK, I'm game. Let's go after work though. I don't want to come back here all sweaty."

"That's fine. They do have showers, though."

"Oh, you'd like that, Danny. Are they co-ed too?" Mindy was actually smiling.

"Ha ha. 6 pm Mindy. Wear actual gym clothes."

Danny was fairly certain she would back out, but she was in his doorway at 6:08, wearing workout clothing that didn't have glitter on it. Her hair was in a high ponytail and her face scrubbed free of makeup.

"You look fifteen."

Mindy beamed. "That's awesome! Now everyone will think you're a dirty old perv dating a teenager."

"Gee, thanks, Min." Danny met her in the doorway and paused. "But I'm not."

"A dirty old perv?" She had a twinkle in her eye. "Or dating a teenager?"

He just looked at her for a moment, then shook his head and walked off. At least she was comfortable teasing him again.

Mindy was surprisingly enthusiastic to work out with the heavy bags. She was ridiculous, of course, flailing and jabbing, even flinging her body at it. Danny was sorely tempted to step in and teach her some moves, but he had seen enough of those Mindy movies to know that was bad news. He just tried to demonstrate from his own bag, and eventually, she picked up a little bit of form.

"Look, Danny! Look!" She shrieked as she pummeled the bag, which barely moved. He felt a swell of pride, and a little something else, and came over to observe.

Bad move.

Mindy, in a spurt of energy, whaled on the bag with a grunt, but somehow over swung and instead of slamming into the bag, missed it completely and caught Danny smack in the jaw.

That was the end of the gym trip.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two... Authors notes at the end. I'm hoping to wrap this up in one more chapter because Tuesday is coming, yay!**

Mindy apologized endlessly, insisting she accompany him home to make sure he didn't have a concussion.

"I can't let you sleep, Danny!" She was crouched on the couch holding an ice pack to his tender jaw. Danny had to admit, it was nice having her dote on and worry over him for a change. Though impressed by her right hook, he was fairly sure he was going to live.

"Mindy, you're a doctor. You of all people should know that's a myth." He paused. "But I think you broke my jaw."

"Shut up, really? We've got to get you to the hospital!"

"No, not really." He grinned. "And you did not give me a concussion. At most, you rattled a few teeth loose. But we might have to license your fists as lethal weapons! That was amazing, Min. Who knew you had it in ya!"

Mindy liked the tone of admiration he had in his voice. He usually wasn't the most forthcoming with compliments, but lately things had changed.

"Danny, I think you're getting a black eye." She pressed the ice pack to his face.

"Ow, I will if you keep doing that!" He moved to wrestle the pack from her, pulling her hands down. She stayed, perched so close, too close for comfort when the barrier of ice wasn't between them. He looked away and she leaned back against the couch.

"I'm sorry I hurt your beautiful face, Danny. But at least we're even now."

"How do you figure? Seems like you're ahead one punch." Danny was bemused that his face had been upgraded from "pretty good" to "beautiful."

"Well, it was your fault I got hurt at the gym."

"It was not! You slipped because you were running away from my nudity."

"Exactly! So it's your fault!" Mindy was struggling to keep from cracking up. Even she couldn't parse her own logic sometimes.

"It's not _that_ scary, Min." Danny teased. The easy camaraderie they had shared before was starting to return, albeit with an undercurrent of tension that wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"Horrific. Traumatizing." Mindy exaggerated a swoon, laying the back of her hand on her forehead. "I need therapy."

"No argument from me." Danny growled.

"So we're not even on _that_ front, Danny." He raised an eyebrow in response. "You saw me naked twice and I only saw you once.

"Oh, did you forget the gallery of gonads? Now _that_ was traumatic. For ME."

"Doesn't count, those were photographs. Who knows, maybe even photoshopped! It's not as humiliating when you're not in person."

"OK, then. You wanna even the score, then? I'm not shy." Danny hopped off the couch and began stripping. He unzipped his jacket and threw it at Mindy, who screeched and tossed it on the floor. "Again with the throwing stuff, Mindy?"

"Shut up! Knock it off."

"No, I'm a firm believer in equality." Danny pulled his t-shirt off and dropped it on the couch. He had a wicked grin and Mindy felt a flush of heat in her face. She had a flash of the steam room wrestling that had occurred last time she had been around Danny's fantastic torso. While they had struggled to free her hair from his watch, there had been a lot of incidental contact, including what she was pretty sure was his junk against her left butt cheek. Damn her ghetto booty!

"Danny, you are not going to get naked here in your living room with me." She held her hand up to block her vision.

"Why not? It's better than doing it in the office. You know, you can see through that glass." He tucked his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts in preparation of hiking them down. "Here goes, even steven."

Mindy shrieked again, covering her face with her hands. "Put it away! Put it away!" She waited a beat, then peeked through her fingers. Danny had his hands on his hips, shorts in place.

"I knew you wouldn't do it!"

"I knew you'd peek."

"Shut up!"

Danny couldn't wipe the smirk off his face. Mindy took her hands down and shifted uncomfortably. "Would you put a shirt on already?"

He reached for the shirt, making obvious flexing motions in the process. "This shirt? You want me to put on this shirt here?"

Mindy was having a little trouble processing her thoughts. She could see Danny was enjoying it far more than he should have. "You're just flexing now, Danny!"

He crossed his arms over his chest, causing his biceps to bulge. "Flexing what? You need to be more specific."

Finally he stopped posing and slipped the shirt over his head, pulling it over his taut abdomen as he sat down next to her. She gave him a baleful look.

"Geez, Danny. Look at you. It's like you're made of marble, and I'm made of marble cake."

Danny snorted, leaning his head back on the couch, then rolling it to the side to look at her. "I knew you'd peek."

"I wasn't peeking to see that!" She gestured in the direction of his groin. "I was checking... that you... if you had... Shut up!"

Danny looked up at the ceiling. He exhaled heavily. "I know you don't wanna see me naked, Min." There was a tone of defeat in his voice, which he caught too late. Attempting to lighten the mood, he continued. "I'm just all hairy, and sweaty..."

"You're a man. That's good, look like a man." Mindy interjected, doing her "Danny Castellano" voice.

"Stop, you're making me blush." They both laughed. Mindy grabbed the ice pack and threw it to Danny as she got up.

"I need a drink, whaddya got?" She walked into the kitchen and Danny called out to her. "Beer, wine, whiskey. The usual. Bring me one too!"

"One what?" She called back.

"One whatever you're having." He sort of hoped for the whiskey but she returned with two bottles of beer. "Wow, I did not expect that. I figured you'd try to make a mojito or something."

"Mindy Lahiri, woman of mystery." She popped her bottle top and took a swig.

"Not much mystery left..." Danny murmured.

"Hey! No teasing about nudity!" Mindy made her mock offended face.

Danny turned to face her, gesturing with an arm. "What was just going on here not five minutes ago?" He let his arm rest casually on the back of the couch behind her.

"That was different, because it wasn't about me."

Danny shook his head. "I thought everything was about you..." His voice trailed off. This felt entirely too cozy. Mindy had tucked her legs under her and her knees were just barely touching his thigh. She leaned back and he felt her hair brushing against his arm, then she laid her head right on it and looked at him. Her face looked so soft and peaceful with this tiny smile.

Then she let out a giant belch.

"Good God, Mindy!"

She just burst into peals of laughter. "I'm sorry, Danny! Beer makes me gassy."

"I guess I should be glad it came from that end." She nodded vigorously. Danny felt like an idiot for letting himself slip into the role of romantic hero. He was pretty sure the heroines of those movies Mindy liked never burped in the faces of their one true love.

"So, wanna tell me what happened with Cliff? Morgan mentioned you guys were on the rocks."

She shook her head. "No, we're straight up done. And that's your fault too!" She watched his expression change to confusion.

"What did I do?" He asked with a crack in his voice. Mindy looked down and shook her head.

"It was awful, Danny..." She said sadly, pausing for full effect. "He really, really hates pubic hair."

"What!?" Danny almost choked.

Mindy looked up and her eyes were dancing with laughter. "I'm kidding, you idiot. He doesn't give a crap how my bush looks, unlike _some_ people."

Danny stared at her with a horrified expression. "I just... it was... come on!"

"Settle down, Danny." She exhaled and started to explain the breakup. "I felt bad about missing the ski trip, so I told him I'd make it up to him and we could go there on our honeymoon. I was just kidding of course!"

"You mentioned a honeymoon after dating two months? Are you nuts? No wonder he broke it off!"

"For your information he did not break it off. We mutually agreed to end it." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "But that was the catalyst for the conversation. And it was a good thing, really, because neither of us was... emotionally committed, yet, I guess is the best way to say it? Nobody's heart got broken, and if we had continued, that would have probably been the result. I went down that path with Casey and I can't do that again."

Danny just listened, not sure if he was supposed to say a word of support or agreement, so he just kept his mouth shut.

"He basically said he's seen too much as a divorce attorney to believe that marriage makes sense. He says he wants a family eventually but not a traditional one. And you know me, Danny. I'm a hopeless traditionalist."

"Well... I guess it's nice that it ended on good terms." Danny said lamely.

"Oh, well, I did set all his suits on fire. But other than that... Joking, Danny. I'm joking."

"OK, so I have to ask then. Why have you been so short with the staff?" And so weird around me, Danny wanted to add, but he knew some of the weirdness was mutual and he wasn't sure they should go there.

"I just figured maybe they would respect me more if I was less lenient. Guess it hasn't been working..." Mindy was twirling her hair and avoiding his eyes and he knew she was lying. Woman of mystery indeed. More like woman of bullshit.

She clearly wanted to change the subject. "So, Danny. You had a horrific experience with marriage. You were scarred for life. You think you'll ever get married again?"

That caught Danny off guard. "Well, I don't... I mean... I wouldn't _not_ get married... I mean..." His stammering intrigued Mindy. She sort of assumed he would vehemently declare it none of her business.

"I'm a commitment kinda guy, I guess. If I was willing to marry Christina again... well that was nuts."

"That was nuts, Danny. I'm so glad you are able to recognize that."

"Yeah, thanks, I guess." He swallowed hard. That wasn't a fun thing for him to revisit, especially his willingness to go down that path again, and some of the reasons behind that decision. One of which was sitting very close, biting her lip and looking at him with big eyes.

"Anyway... I don't have any pending plans." Danny smiled at her, feeling little flutters like a teenager. "You wanna marry me, Mindy Lahiri?"

She grinned. "Oh, _totally_, Daniel Castellano. And I wanna have _millions_ of sweaty, hairy mixed race babies with you." He laughed, and she laughed, and the caught each other's eye. Then they stopped laughing.

Mindy's breath caught in her throat. She though for sure that Danny would just make a witty comeback, and drink his beer, and stop looking at her like that. He had to stop looking at her like that, because she couldn't stand it if he didn't.

And he didn't.

**Author's note - so sorry to end on a cliffhanger here but this next chapter is going to take some time to finish... I have this terrible habit of coming up with ideas and even dialogue when I can't write it down! Thanks to all who read, and especially those who review. **


	3. Chapter 3

Danny was caught off guard by the change in Mindy's expression after their shared joke. She had joined in the silliness and they laughed and then suddenly she was looking at him wistfully, almost longingly, and he couldn't think. That was soon replaced with a darkening hint of desire as they gazed at each other, and it sent Danny reeling.

His eyes flitted to her mouth at the same moment she tentatively licked her lips, and suddenly he was reaching for her. In one quick, fluid movement, his hand went from the couch to the back of her head, moving her closer so his mouth could find hers. She gasped as their lips met.

Danny barely moved, just the softest of touches of his lips on hers, opening his mouth to breathe her in. She responded hungrily, her eager tongue finding his in a delicate dance, with the tiniest of sighs.

Just as quickly, they broke the kiss and moved apart, staring at each other in shock.

"Wow." That was all Mindy could say, spreading it over three syllables. She was breathing hard and her eyes were a little glassy. She reached a trembling hand to touch her lips.

"OK." Danny said in a growl. They were at an impasse, neither knowing what the next step was, unsure prepared to address it.

Mindy broke the tense silence. "That was nice."

"Nice." Danny felt awkward, at a loss for words.

"Damn, Danny, you're a really good kisser."

"That surprises you?" He tried to regain his bravado, as it had slipped severely. He hated feeling vulnerable. Men were supposed to manly and not wilt at the gentle touch of a woman.

Mindy smiled shyly. "I dunno..." She didn't want to talk about his kissing - she wanted to kiss him again. Grabbing her beer, she took a heavy pull and looked back at Danny. He was normally intense but now he looked ferocious, and yet she could see something in his eyes that wasn't brave at all.  
A million thoughts ran through her mind. Is this going to happen? Are we gonna bang? Is this just for tonight, a rebound fling, two single people staving off the loneliness for a night? She knew there was no way she could sleep with Danny without emotions getting involved, and it would be way, way worse than what could have happened with Cliff. She couldn't break up with him to avoid heartbreak and then jump head first into it now. Danny was an integral part of her life.

Danny sighed heavily, looking chagrined. He knew he should say something... But he couldn't read Mindy's face and definitely couldn't read her mind.

"It was nice." He felt like an idiot. "You're, um, a good kisser too."

Mindy grinned and shook her head. "We've now officially spent more time complimenting each other's technique than we did actually kissing."

Danny barked out a short laugh.

"I know a way we could fix that..." He raised one eyebrow, then did a quick nod in her direction.

"Oh Danny, you're smooth..."

Mindy suddenly flung herself forward, grabbing his face and kissing him hard.

She was so forceful he was almost knocked over. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body flush against his. She ran her fingers through his hair while he found other places to put his hands - one slid down to cup her bottom while the other slipped up the back of her shirt. His nimble fingers traced patterns on her heated skin.

Suddenly Mindy was pushing him away, moving to put space between them. Danny sat up, confused, heart pounding.

"Sorry, I... What the hell, Danny? What are we doing?" Mindy had a note of panic in her voice.

"Min..." He said weakly. "I thought you... wanted this."

Mindy looked completed unnerved. "Danny, this is just too weird. You grabbed my ass. You were touching my skin, and I could feel your... I just don't know if I can deal with... this!" She maniacally gestured between them.

"It's weird that I touched your skin, but it's not weird that we were kissing?" Danny rubbed his face.

"Oh, no, it's very weird that we were kissing." Mindy replied decidedly. "But I just..." She reached out and stroked his face, running her thumb over his lips. She pulled her hand back. "I can't just hook up with you, Danny. You mean... a lot to me."

She had spent the last few weeks struggling with her feelings, between her affection for Cliff and her growing attraction to Danny. Here he was, within her reach, and she wanted him badly, but not at the cost of her heart.

Danny gave her an incredulous look.

"Hook up?" He choked. "I don't want to just hook up with you."

Mindy's eyes were huge, questioning.

"Why would you even think that?"

"I... Well... I couldn't imagine you wanting more. We... we don't make sense, Danny."

Danny reached for her hands, grasping them tightly. "Sense? Jesus. I don't care what makes sense. Mindy, I want more. I want to go to dinner with you. I want to go to your stupid movies with you. I want to take you to Yankees games and make out in the cheap seats." He realized he was babbling like a crazy man, but he couldn't stop. Mindy's face was a mixture of shock and dawning realization.

"I want to sit here on the couch and drink beers with you. I want to watch tv in that bed till we fall asleep in each other's arms. I want to make you pancakes in the morning. I want to build a house with you. I want to build a life with you. I want..." He swallowed hard. "Babies. Hairy babies. Not a million, just one or two. Someday." He knew he was going too far, too fast, but he couldn't get his foot off the gas pedal.

"I love you, Mindy." He exhaled deeply. It was done. There was no going back now.

Mindy's eyes were brimming with tears. "Holy shit, Danny." She whispered. She had never heard those words said in this way. Her previous boyfriends had said it in response to her, or in the throes of passion, or as Casey had done it, playfully rhyming. But this was so heartfelt, so completely raw and naked... and completely out of nowhere. It was difficult for her to process.

Danny knit his brows and waited for her to say more.

"And you though I moved too fast?" She swallowed a sob and pulled her hands free to wipe her eyes. Danny's heart fell, until she lifted her hands and placed them on either side of his face. "That was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. But can we please back up just a tiny bit? Can we, like, go on a date? I really don't want the story we tell our grand kids to be how you accidentally proposed after I punched you in the face."

Danny's apprehensive expression was replaced by a smile. "OK."

Mindy slid a hand from his face down to his chest. She could feel his rapid pulse, or maybe her own, or perhaps they were beating in sync.

"You're touching my skin, Mindy. Are you sure..." Danny's mouth twisted in a wry smile.

"Shut it, Danny. I was freaking a little, OK?" She fisted her hand in his shirt and pulled him to her, catching his lips.

"Damn, Danny..." She moaned as he moved his mouth south and kissed her throat. "We are going to have the hairiest babies..." His laughter rumbled against her skin.

"I'm serious, Danny. Like, those Mexican wolf children levels of hairy." He stifled her talking with his mouth again.

"No, really, I looked like a muppet when I was born. I had hair on my spine, Danny."

"I don't care." He murmured, running his fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face. "Thank you for not running away from my demented declaration of love, Min."

"I couldn't, Danny. You kiss too good... too well... you're a helluva kisser, Danny."

"I work with what I've got." He murmured as he moved to kiss her again. This time, she didn't push him away.

**Authors note - I had a tough time with this and reworked it a few times. Still not entirely happy with how it came out, aside from the hairy babies part. I pretty much only wrote it for that! ;) I find it a lot easier to write humor , especially dialogue. Since we haven't really seen either of these characters do much besides humor, I feel like I lose their voices when I write more serious or schmoopy dialogue. I reapply appreciate the reviews that mention that I do well keeping them in character because I really try hard in that respect! A lot of the non-dialogue stuff, I try to write with their physicality and mannerisms in mind but it doesn't translate as well. Anyway, thanks for reading and hurry up, Tuesday!**


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